


The Key

by Clarx



Category: Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Between Farewell and Before the Storm, Canon Compliant, F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Hockey pic, Loneliness, Max misses Chloe, Rare perspective, Sadness, The Caulfields in Seattle, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarx/pseuds/Clarx
Summary: About one month ago, Ryan Caulfield’s daughter, Max, was forced to leave her best friend, Chloe, behind when he moved his family hundreds of miles away because of his job.Max hasn’t been handling the move well, so Ryan decides to take time away from work for a special father-daughter day that he hopes will help make her happy.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Ryan Caulfield/Vanessa Caulfield
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	The Key

He stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom buttoning his dress shirt. He was preparing for the routine morning drive to work as he typically did in the middle of the week. One at a time, starting near the collar at the top and working his way down the fabric, Ryan used his pointers and thumbs from both hands to push and pull each button through their designated slots on the opposite side. As the clothing tightened around his chest and belly, he began to rationalize the reason behind such snugness.

 _This damn shirt must’ve shrunk. That’s what happens when you mix hot water and cotton. Gotta tell Vanessa to be more careful next load._  
  
In the back of his mind, he knew age, a poor diet, and lack of exercise were the true culprits behind the now tight-fitting article of clothing. He sat behind a desk most every day, which meant minimal amounts of physical activity. Blaming someone other than himself and his own decisions made it much easier to come to terms with what he was experiencing. He also knew this wasn’t the first time, as of late, he forced himself to rationalize his own behavior.

The man’s young teenage daughter could easily be heard from her new room where she laid alone sniffling every night since the move. It had been a few weeks since Ryan uprooted his family and swept them away from a place both his wife and daughter truly enjoyed living because his job situation required him to move closer to Seattle. Vanessa, being supportive and extremely understanding, typically just went with the flow and rarely pushed back too hard on her husband’s decisions. Max clearly hadn’t been taking the move very well, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do to make her feel better.

The most difficult part of the move for his daughter was having to leave her best friend behind. Ryan saw how much they meant to one another but figured Max could meet somebody else to play with. It wasn’t until he witnessed the soulful, kind-hearted, outgoing girl he raised completely shutting down, that he understood the strength of the girls' bond. She’d always been a bit introverted and overly thoughtful, but he had no idea she would lock herself inside her own head and toss away the key. It was like an uncontrollable storm was raging inside her and she was unable to find shelter.

He was beginning to feel terrible that he encouraged the girl not to stay in contact with her friend; it seemed like the right decision at the time. He convinced his daughter it was better for both her and Chloe if they moved on from one another, practically forbidding Max from reaching out. He made her believe her best friend would hurt more if she hung on, and it was easy since she cared too much about Chloe to be the cause of even more pain.

“She’ll get over it,” the bearded man told his wife; and he truly believed it at first. The days turned into weeks and his adventurous daughter seemed to be withering away right before his eyes. He sometimes wished he could rewind his decisions and do things differently.

Everything might have been different had Max’s best friend not just lost her father in a tragic car accident. The teenager essentially lived at the Price household at times, especially during the summer, and Ryan knew how much William meant to her. Yes, Ryan was the girl’s father, but Chloe’s dad was a father-figure to Max for most of her life as well. Personally, he hadn’t grown very close to William or Joyce; he probably spent too much time focused on his work, but he trusted the couple even with his daughter’s life. They were good people who loved each other, their own daughter, and his little Max. Similarly, both families only had one child, and the girls’ personalities seemed to fit each other quite well.

He considered staying in town an extra day or two after the funeral, but everything lined up so perfectly. His job relocated giving him only a handful of weeks to find a place to live and get settled in. Vanessa found the perfect spot, merely a half-hour's drive to his new work address in a good school district, so they purchased the property rather quickly. That same week, they listed their Arcadia Bay residence and received a desirable offer within the first 48 hours. Every sign they’d been given from the universe said moving was the right thing to do. What he didn’t consider was how it would impact his family, and he was beginning to wonder if he made the right decision.

_We left for the damn job. Had to follow the money… didn’t we?_

Max stayed in her room all day watching television, playing video games, and listening to music. It didn’t seem too unlike most teenagers, in Ryan’s estimation, but it was uncommon for the girl he knew prior to the move to not be very active. She and her best friend would be gone together for what seemed like days, roaming and playing outside all around their former town. They dressed up like pirates and appeared to simply enjoy being out and about with one another.

The man typically relied on Vanessa to handle the emotional stuff that came with being a teenaged girl. In his mind, he just didn’t know how to handle the young girl’s feelings. He recognized that she was a kid who needed to have friends and be socially active, but he underestimated how important the friend, who was now hundreds of miles away, meant to his daughter’s happiness. Her heart was broken because of a death in her life, but, to Max, he knew it must’ve felt like her best friend died too.

All of a sudden, Ryan realized what he needed to do, and he kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.

_Damn. I’m an idiot._

Work was demanding and there would, no doubt, be consequences for his actions later, but this was suddenly the most important thing in the world to the man. He quickly changed out of his nice business button-down dress shirt to a more casual long-sleeve flannel and headed upstairs.

“Hey,” Ryan whispered through the barely cracked door to his daughter’s bedroom, “you up, Max?” The bed squeaked and the mattress springs shifted as the man placed an open palm on the outside of the door, pushing ever so gently as it silently inched open. Max rolled over and lifted her eyelids, looking up and towards the door in her father’s direction.

“Yeah, I’m up.” Her scratchy voice grumbled due to inactivity throughout the night. “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be on the road?” She ran her tongue over the new braces she received a week prior, and she stretched her arms towards the ceiling. The girl pushed herself to a sitting position with her back against the headboard, legs and torso still under the covers. She reached over to the nightstand and gripped a cup of room temperature water she placed there the evening before, taking a small slurping sip.

“Today is a special day. Get up and get ready, we’re gonna spend some time together, just you and me.” He tried to force a smile to encourage his teenager to not be suspicious and just sort of go with it.

_Who am I kidding? She’s Max. She’s curious about every little thing._

“What’s wrong, Dad? Is everything okay?” Her eyes opened widely and her neck was craned forward in concern. The features on her face still appeared tired but her voice indicated she was wide awake and alert.

“Yeah, no… everything is fine, sweetie. I realized we haven’t had the opportunity to hang out together in a while. I really want to have a daddy-daughter day. That is… if it’s okay with you. How are your teeth by the way?” Ryan straightened his back and pulled his waist band upward over his gut, marginally adjusting the height of his pants to a more comfortable position.

“Won’t you get in trouble with your job?” She placed the glass back on the side table and slid around, allowing her legs to drape over the side of the bed where her pointed toes barely grazed the carpet. “My mouth is a little sore. They p-probably need adjusting soon. Gosh, I hope I don’t have to wear these too long.”

Ryan stepped inside the room and approached the spot where Max was sitting. “Meh,” he responded, tossing his hands forward like he didn’t really care about the repercussions of missing a day of work, though he dreaded the slap on the wrist he knew he would receive from his boss the following day. “I want to buy you something new. I think you’ll really enjoy it. Then I figured you might want to get some lunch and catch a Thunderbird’s game. What do you think, sweetheart?”

“Uhm, what are Thunderbirds?” The girl blinked several times waiting for her father’s response.

“You know,” he began, “hockey. The local Seattle team is battling it out today. I don’t know much about the sport really, but I know they have a home game this afternoon. What do you say?”

“Sure, that sounds good.” Max stood and stretched then grabbed some clothing from the dresser. “I’ll be down after my shower.” She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Ryan went back downstairs and retrieved his mug from the sink. He rinsed it out and refilled it with coffee for his second cup of the morning. He usually enjoyed one cup at home and another when he got to work.

After he called his boss to ask for the day off, telling the man a little lie about not feeling well, Ryan watched Max emerge from atop the stairway and meander to the kitchen bar area. Despite the dark circles beneath her eyes, she looked gorgeous, he thought, just like her mother. She ate a bowl of Skweekinax and quickly drank a cup of coffee. The girl had a wearisome look in her eyes that seemed to originate more from the weight of loneliness than still being tired.

“How are you feeling, sweetie? You don’t really look too well. I mean, you look pretty, just sort of down, I guess. I know the move has been tough on you but it’ll get better, trust me.”

Max just shrugged then stood up and put her bowl in the dishwasher. She stared over at her dad from the sink area, slouching and holding one arm in the front of her body with the other. Ryan knew she was waiting on him to lead her to the car for their day together, but his concern for his dejected daughter caused him to hesitate, just staring back. It broke his heart seeing the girl in such a sorrowful state knowing she used to seem... happy.

_When’s the last time she smiled?_

He recalled holding Max in his arms when she was less than a week old. Her eyes still struggled to focus on a single object, crossing periodically, but there was a brief moment when she locked her gaze on her father’s face and smiled up at him for the first time. He loved her more than anything and, that day, he promised himself to never be the source of her pain. All he wanted to do was protect her from any and all harm. He had lost sight of that, and it was a promise he would break only a handful of years later.

He rapidly moved his head back and forth to shake away his memory of the past. “Let’s be off then,” the middle-aged man said, finally breaking their silent stare. “We’ll also need to get jerseys for the game. You look lovely, sweetie, but it’ll be good to show some team spirit while we’re there.” Ryan hoped the teen would grow excited about the day to come, but she didn’t appear to show any real emotion besides a permeable sadness.

The father-daughter pair finally hopped in the car and headed towards town. Ryan turned the radio on and tuned it to a local “Pop Hits” station hoping he could bond with the girl in the passenger seat through music. When Max sighed and twisted her body away from the interior of the car towards the window, the driver had no idea why she reacted in that manner. She propped her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm as she longingly stared out the window.

_Maybe she doesn’t like the music. Nah, that can’t be it. All kids her age like pop, I think._

No thoughts or observations were exchanged for an uncomfortable amount of time, and Ryan couldn’t find the right combination of words to say to his hurting teenager, so he remained quiet. The awkward silence lasted until they finally reached their first stop. Max must’ve been lost in thought, because she didn’t notice where they were until her dad put the vehicle in park and twisted his key, turning the car off and removing it from the ignition.

Ryan watched as his little girl looked up through the windshield at the front of the building and saw the big bold letters adorned on the side. “The Guitar Center?” The brunette asked as she turned back towards the interior of the car and made eye contact with her father. “Why are we here?”

“Well,” the bearded man began, “I thought maybe you could channel your… thoughts and emotions, I guess, into music. Let’s go in and get you a guitar.” As he finished his last words, he noticed the girl’s face light up. The corners of her mouth slightly angled upwards and Ryan could see he was on the right track. He was worried his plan might have been ruined seeing how she reacted to the music on the radio, but, after watching her facial features expand at the idea of owning a guitar, the man was beginning to think his daughter simply didn’t like popular music. Come to think of it, the music he heard through Max’s bedroom door sounded more organic and indie than he figured most kids her age would enjoy.

“I don’t know much about guitars, but I’d love to learn to play,” the freckled brunette spoke with a hopefulness in her voice that her father hadn’t heard in quite some time. Ryan smiled then lead her inside and the father-daughter pair casually perused the instruments hanging on the walls and the accessories on the shelves in the middle of the large room.

Max stopped in front of a Yamaha acoustic guitar that Ryan noticed she’d been eyeing since they walked in. He didn’t see anything special about it but his little girl seemed to. Ryan waved down a team member and asked to let his daughter give it a try. The employee, probably in his mid to late twenties with tattoos up and down his arms, enthusiastically retrieved the item, handed it to Max, and then showed her how to properly hold and strum the instrument.

“This is a fine starter axe, little lady,” the man nodded in encouragement. “Can’t go wrong here. You can upgrade in a couple years once you learn your way around some chords and riffs. Just one piece of advice: repetition. Play over and over and over again. When you’re finished with that… play some more. We offer classes here too, but here’s a little secret.” The tattooed employee bent down and leaned in as if he was about to whisper something important. “You can teach yourself this shit. It’s just as easy to learn on your own as it is with paying us to teach you. YouTube my dear.”

“Th-this is the one I want,” Max confirmed, slipping the sling from around her neck and shoulder and handing the guitar to the man with a tiny grin on her face. “Thank you, dad!” The teen wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and squeezed. She felt warm. Ryan couldn’t remember the last time his daughter showed him affection. He knew he didn’t really deserve it lately, but it filled his heart.

Ryan was both relieved that his daughter actually seemed happy, even if just for the moment, and proud that he had figured out a way to make her smile. The team member set them up with replacement strings, a beginner’s manual, and a couple of other items he convinced the pair were necessities. Max’s father pulled out his credit card and paid, and, as they made their way back towards the car, he watched his daughter carry her new instrument with both arms. It seemed to dwarf her a bit, but he was glad she was excited, and he knew she would grow into it. After placing the items in the back seat, the driver cranked the car, leaving The Guitar Center to shrink in his rear-view mirror.

“I’m getting hungry,” the young teen mentioned after only a couple of minutes in the vehicle that was heading towards their next destination.

“Yeah, me too. But I’m always ready to eat.” Ryan released one hand from the steering wheel and patted his belly, chuckling before he continued. “We’ll get some grub at the arena.” It was a small thing, but he was glad Max mentioned being hungry. She hadn’t eaten much since the move, he noticed, and gaining her appetite back was another good sign. She seemed to be opening up a little more too, and he hoped the trend would continue throughout the day.

With the new instrument in the backseat and a somewhat more cheerful daughter, the middle-aged man drove them deeper into the city and to the sporting venue ready to catch a hockey game. Being midday, attendance wasn’t expected to be very high. They found a good spot in the oversized parking garage, walked up to the ticket booth, then strolled inside.

Max followed her dad into the small merchandise shop just inside the front gate entrance. “Oh,” the man beamed, “we gotta get jerseys! You can just pull it over your yellow tee there.” He ducked his head and made arm motions like he was putting on a shirt. “Let’s see what they have.” The pair searched through the apparel section but only found two varieties of jersey-like items: one short-sleeved and pink with a large ‘S’ on the back and the second, red with long sleeves and the large ‘S’ on the front. “You want red or pink, sweetheart? Pink’s your favorite color, right?”

“The red one looks pretty cool.” Max removed the clothing from the hanger and held it up to her body. “I think it’s a little bit too big.”

Ryan smiled and shook his head. “I may not know much about hockey, but I know it’s supposed to be big and not really fit well,” he chuckled.” If it doesn’t hang off you like a damn tent, it’s too small.” The voice coming from his mouth sounded almost like someone else. It was raised an octave and his excitement was clearly growing. He felt like a kid again skipping school and going out with friends. Not that his daughter considered him a friend, but he loved spending time with her; even in the moments when few words or thoughts were shared.

_Maybe I needed this break too._

They purchased their new jerseys and exited the shop. After pulling the merchandise over their heads and adjusting their undershirts to a more comfortable position, they found themselves at the concessions area ready for lunch. Only one small group was ahead of them in line, so it didn’t take long to place their orders.

Max selected a small tub of nachos and a Cherry Coke, and, despite the snugness of his button-down dress shirt earlier, Ryan ordered a jumbo Seattle Dog and a Coke. The man couldn’t resist the cream cheese and sautéed onions that topped the perfectly cooked polish sausage on a hoagie roll. Sure, it wasn’t the healthiest of choices, but maybe next week he could start watching what he ate. Today, he was spending time with his only daughter. He was prepared to relax, unplug, and enjoy their time together without concern about his weight.

After locating their second level seats, Ryan decided he was going to suggest something he knew could go one of two ways. He wanted to take a photo of Max at the game so he could remember this moment forever. On one hand, he didn’t want to be that type of dad who takes pictures and is overly annoying. On the other hand, he knew Max loved photography. He might have guessed her musical choice incorrectly, but he knew that much about the girl.

_She’s an artist. She won’t mind. Or will she? Shit._

Before they took their seats, still standing in the middle aisle, and even though he felt lame for it, Ryan decided he would ask. “Max, do you mind if I take a picture of you in your jersey with the teams warming up in the background? Seems like it would be a good picture. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, no problem, Dad,” the petite girl smiled. He hadn’t seen a grin on her face that large since he picked her up from playing with Chloe outside last month. Max handed him her nachos and placed her Cherry Coke in the beverage holder on the armrest of the seat directly to her side. When she turned around, her father was balancing his phone and the pair’s food while lining up the shot.

“Oh, that’s perfect!” Ryan felt his arms and legs shaking as he stood in an awkward position trying to snap a good picture. “Got it,” he called out, gathering his balance and lowering his phone. “Thanks, sweetie.”  
  


They sat in their seats and gobbled up the meals they’d just purchased. Ryan enjoyed watching his little princess light up as she witnessed her first hockey game. Even though the girl didn’t really understand what was happening, and truthfully, he didn’t much either, she seemed enamored by the ice and the game’s pace. He even watched her jump up to her feet with clinched fists as a fight broke out. She was having a fantastic time and it delighted him to see her that way.

On the car ride home, Max couldn’t stop talking about her experience. She even picked up a hockey term or two, which was impressive to her dad. In a matter of hours, she had transformed from quiet and shut away in her own head to being almost overly chatty.

As they pulled into the driveway and Ryan slid the gearshift to the park position, he heard the girl in the passenger seat unbuckle. Suddenly, he felt her sling her small arms over the middle console and as far around the man’s torso as she possible could. After a moment, she pulled back and smiled. “Thank you, dad. I haven’t had that much fun since…” She trailed off and shrank back to her seat. “I miss Chloe.”

“I’m sorry, Maxine.” He was beginning to realize, no matter how much he distracted her with amazing, fun-filled days, the key to her happiness might actually be the girl she left behind.

“It’s Max; I’m not a big fan of Maxine.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about that too. Listen, sweetheart, you can call her if you want. I feel terrible about encouraging you to not reach out to her. She means a lot to you, that’s clear.”

“I-I don’t even know what to say now. She probably hates my guts for leaving and not calling yet.” Max began nervously picking at her fingernails, her mood shifting back to the way it was prior to visiting the guitar shop earlier in the day.

“I understand, Max. Whatever you think is best.” He stopped briefly then continued. “I just wanna say… thank you too. I had a great time this afternoon. What do you say we make this ‘our thing’?” He used his fingers to create air quotes, putting emphasis on his last two words. “We should do it again... maybe next week? I’ll have to wait until the weekend this time. Don’t wanna lose my job.” He awkwardly chucked to himself, remembering that he’d face consequences for his actions upon returning. No matter the outcome, he felt it was definitely worth spending time with his little girl.

“I’d really like that.” Following her words, the brunette exited the vehicle, obtained her new guitar and bag of accessories from the back seat, then vanished inside the house.

Ryan, sitting in the carport alone, removed his car key from the ignition and held it out in front of his face for a moment. He considered the idea that the tiny item was created to perfectly fit a spot with the exact opposite design. The two pieces, together, completed one another. A key without its keyhole, was purposeless; and vice versa. As a parent, he hoped his daughter would be able to navigate her way through life without pain or hurt, but he knew that wasn’t a realistic expectation. If Max and Chloe found their ways back to one another, it would be a beautiful thing. Until then, he would love his family and do everything in his power to keep them safe and happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for checking out this little story!
> 
> We still don't have solid intel on what happened to Max after she left Arcadia Bay as a young teen. Besides a few pictures on her wall and the small details she mentions in her journal, we don't have much to go on. I really wanted to explore that time and figured the hockey game photo would be a good place to start. I've never seen a fic from Ryan's perspective so I decided to challenge myself and see if I could do it. 
> 
> Personally, I really disliked how Before the Storm dragged Max through the mud - both she and Chloe confirmed in LiS 1 that Max never reached out (not even a single text). In Before the Storm, they twisted the narrative to show Max practically ghosted Chloe - which I don't think she would ever do. It was important for me to show the lack of communication between them was a combination of Max's anxiety and the idea that she might be hurting Chloe even more that drove her to distance herself from her soulmate.
> 
> Anyway, thanks again for reading, it means a ton!!
> 
> (The art piece included is a recreated render of the photo on Max's dorm wall. My good friend created it and you can find him here: https://twitter.com/A_Cringelord)
> 
> Also, thanks for the beta JibbyPuff!


End file.
